THE siege of Paradise Circus came to a dramatic end last night when police overpowered the man who had threatened to leap from a bridge during a 28-hour stand-off.

Parts of Birmingham were brought to a standstill as some of the main routes through the city centre were shut down for safety reasons.

The shutdown, which began when the man climbed over bridge railings off Chamberlain Square at around 4pm on Wednesday, ended when tiredness finally set in late last night.

Officers seized their opportunity to make an arrest at around 8pm.

The man, believed to be homeless and from Latvia, was detained after skilful but drawn out negotiating tactics.

Throughout the night the team of four negotiators – three men and a woman – came within touching distance of the man and supplied him with McDonalds food, coffee, cigarettes and a jacket to keep him warm.

The softly, softly tactics had been criticised by angry onlookers, but they paid off when the man was overpowered by negotiators who had persuaded him to sit on a wall away from the railings.

At one point earlier in the afternoon they had even managed to coax him down to the steps in Chamberlain Square, but he wriggled away and jumped back over the railings.

As darkness fell the tiredness appeared to set in. He started to shiver and he let out anguished screams with his fists clenched as he tried to stay awake.

The negotiators seized their chance when, after talking for a while, they stood up one by one, surrounding him.

Then they leapt into action, grappling with him for more than 30 seconds, whilst calling for help from officers waiting inside Paradise Forum who belatedly responded.